Unarmed Man Dies After Being Shot With Taser By Branford Police

An unarmed, 41-year-old man named David Werblow died Sunday night after Branford police shot him with a Taser when he refused to get out of a parked car, according to a preliminary State Police investigation.

Police said Werblow was being uncooperative and had previously attempted to stop cars and enter those vehicles as they passed him walking along Burban Drive in Branford. Police initially responded to a call of a disturbance at Werblow's residence at 134 Burban Drive, according to the state police report.

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Werblow's death was the 16th time since 2005 that an unarmed person has died in Connecticut following a violent incident involving a police stun gun. Three other unarmed individuals were killed by police gunfire in the past decade.

Law enforcement authorities defend the current system of investigating these sorts of fatal police incidents. But critics say outside investigations should be required, arguing that the policy of using local prosecutors to review the actions of local police raises all sorts of conflict of interest issues.

David McGuire, an attorney for the Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Branford incident appears to "reinforce the need for oversight mechanisms associated with Tasers."

The residence at 134 Burban Drive was purchased by the Continuum of Care, a New Haven-based non-profit with the help of a grant from the state Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services. According to its website, Continuum of Care provides "comprehensive community-based residential and support services" for individuals "challenged by psychiatric disabilities, developmental disabilities, homelessness, and substance abuse … "

A spokesperson for the state agency involved declined to comment on the 134 Burban Drive facility, saying her department "does not comment on specific addresses or individuals due to privacy concerns." Continuum of Care officials failed to respond to a request for an interview regarding Werblow or the Branford house the non-profit owns.

According to the State Police report, 134 Burban Drive was listed as Werblow's home address. State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said his office doesn't have any other information concerning that address or why Werblow was living there. He said the case remains under investigation.

"We need more information," McGuire said following release of the initial State Police report. "But it [the circumstance of Werblow's death] does raise serious questions."

"This appears to be consistent with a lot of the other Taser-related deaths, where a person was not actively resisting," McGuire said, adding that many of those fatalities also involved people with mental health or drug addiction problems.

According to state officials and McGuire, Branford was one of the first police departments in the state to purchase both body cameras that are supposed to record any violent incident, and Taser cameras, that are also supposed to visually record every incident in which a Taser is deployed.

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However, one state official said it was uncertain Monday if the Branford officers involved in the Werblow incident had their body and/or Taser cameras turned on.

The State Police report said Branford officers repeatedly ordered Werblow to halt when he was walking down the street. After he got into the parked car, the officers "attempted to get Werblow to exit the vehicle; however he continued to ignore their requests."

"A Branford Police Officer successfully deployed his department issued TASER to gain control of Werblow," the State Police report said. "Officers were able to remove Werblow from the vehicle and place him in handcuffs."

Officers immediately noticed that Werblow was in medical distress" and called for an ambulance. Werblow was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to State Police. The Connecticut Medical Examiner's staff will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Vance said there was no evidence found that Werblow was armed at the time of the incident.

In response to a state law passed in 2014, Branford police adopted a new policy in January governing the use of electronic stun guns.

One key part of the policy states that stun guns "shall not be used… against nonviolent misdemeanants who do not flee or actively resist and pose little or no threat to the security of the officers or the public."

Branford officers are also prohibited under the policy from using their stun guns on a person "solely based upon verbal non-compliance and/or demonstrating passive resistance."

"We take every use of force by our officers very seriously," Branford Police Chief Kevin Halloran said in a statement, "especially those that result in injury, or in those unusual cases, a loss of life."

"We realized that Conducted Electronic Weapons (Tasers) are classified as a less than lethal weapon; however [we] also realize their use can result in death and do not deploy them indiscriminately."

The new state law also requires Connecticut police departments to report to the state Office of Policy and Management every time an officer uses a stun gun on someone. Those reports began to be filed in January.

Thus far, not counting the Werblow case, Branford police have reported using Tasers on four occasions. In two of the cases, the individual involved was listed on the reports as "actively aggressive."

In one January case, the person hit with a stun gun was listed in the report as "non-aggressive" and that he "failed to follow officer's instructions." Another case in late February, the individual who was subjected to a Taser was listed as an "emotionally disturbed" person who was "suicidal."